Review of Blow-Up (1966) by Brian B — 25 Sep 2017

Before Francis Ford Coppola and Brian De Palma gave audiences a taste of aural and visual detective-like movies with The Conversation and Blow Out, respectively, Michelangelo Antonioni had already established the idea with Blow-Up.

Granted both Coppola and De Palma admit freely to using this film as inspiration, but this is really where the idea starts. The film holds up fairly well and does manage to intrigue you with nothing more than images instead of sound, music and/or dialogue, but it's that first hour that really makes it difficult to soak into it.

The actual plot doesn't even really kick in until nearly an hour into the film. The time before that wasn't wasted though, as we spend a good amount of time with Thomas in his world, establishing it and his character, as well as setting up for what's to come, but people could be put off by it and shut it off long before anything occurs.

Someone like me has the patience to wait, but others, especially in today's world, might not. That aspect isn't good for the film as a whole, but the overall execution and style, as well as performances, are all top notch, and you owe it to yourself to check it out.